Even after the corona pandemic, the laptop remains the number one learning tool for schoolchildren. But which device is suitable for children and young people to do homework and follow lessons?

What used to be the book is now the laptop for students. With one exception: Schoolchildren are given books free of charge at the beginning of the school year, while technical equipment such as laptops or tablets is scarce in German schools. What the state cannot solve is left up to the parents. Of course, the learning computer should not cost too much. Parents can currently get hold of a future-proof device for between 500 and 650 euros. With compromises in performance, it is also cheaper.

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Laptops for students

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 17ITL6 is a formidable computer for school. Two computing cores work in the built-in Intel Pentium Gold 7505. The 15.6 inch display (39.6 centimeters) has an HD resolution (1600 x 900 pixels). The RAM is eight gigabytes. That’s enough for school.

The capacity of the internal memory, i.e. the memory on which the computer saves pictures, videos and documents, could be a little larger. The built-in SSD only holds 256 gigabytes of data. That’s more than enough for pure schoolwork. However, if your child thinks of also backing up private pictures and videos on the laptop, things could quickly become tight. The laptop can be connected to a monitor via an HDMI socket. Windows 11 works on the laptop.

At 15.6 inches (39.6 centimeters), the Asus F515JA-EJ721T is the same size but cheaper. The biggest difference is the processor. Because it doesn’t come from chip manufacturer AMD, but from its competitor Intel. The Intel Core i53-1005G1 works in the laptop. Unfortunately, it only has two computing cores, but it is still suitable for school or university.

However, there is a significant performance difference compared to the AMD Ryzen 5 5500U. The AMD processor is significantly more powerful. In terms of display resolution, storage space, connection options, the first two laptops take almost nothing.

The HP 15s eq2237ng notebook has everything that makes students happy. Students can work with several programs at the same time on a screen diagonal of 15.6 inches (39.6 centimeters). This is made possible by the Ryzen 3 5300 U processor from AMD in combination with the built-in eight gigabytes of RAM. The internal memory is 512 gigabytes and is sufficient for a school career. Webcam, speakers and microphone are – as with all other laptops – available. The display has a Full HD resolution. However, there is one significant difference to the two previous models: the Asus laptop has a USB-C socket.

The Acer Campus Extensa 15 (EX215-31-P5EQ) is the slightly more mature device and offers at least eight gigabytes of RAM. Acer uses the Intel Pentium N 5030 with four cores as the processor. At 15.6 inches (39.6 centimeters), the display is large enough to last a day at school or university. The internal memory is sparse at 128 gigabytes. Nevertheless, if the laptop is available for less than 500 euros, school children or students can’t go wrong with it.

Price tip under 500 euros

Large families in particular know the quarrels between siblings over who is allowed to use the laptop and when. It is hardly possible to do justice to all children – but the attempt is honorable and expensive. All laptops presented offer four-core processors, eight gigabytes of RAM and at least 512 gigabytes of internal memory. But with small smears it is also cheaper. And you most likely want to accept that with the internal memory. This is due to the inside of the laptop: the processor is always firmly soldered. You can’t exchange it or upgrade it later. The more powerful the processor, the longer you can enjoy the laptop.

A few years ago, consumers could still upgrade the main memory relatively easily and therefore opted for small memory variants, which they upgraded after a few years. There is still potential for savings here, but more and more manufacturers are now also soldering the main memory. What remains is the internal SSD storage. It’s also getting harder and harder to upgrade. But you can manage your data relatively easily on external hard drives. And that’s why it makes sense to buy a laptop with perhaps only 128 or 64 gigabytes of storage space – you save several hundred euros with several devices at the same time.

Small and light: The HP Stream 11-ak0720ng weighs only 1500 grams. Unfortunately, it only offers an 11.6 inch display (29.5 centimeters) and unfortunately its four gigabytes of RAM are permanently installed. Upgrading is not possible in this area. And the data memory is also extremely sparse at 64 gigabytes. A student needs to keep the calculator really clean if it is to remain functional for a few years. The built-in Intel Celeron N4020 processor offers the computing power of two cores. The battery life of up to 13.25 hours is really strong. And the price is also right at around 200 euros.

Laptop for students: That’s what matters

Thankfully, the student laptop doesn’t need the top-of-the-line model. Programs such as Outlook, Zoom, Teams or Excel do not require as much performance as games, for example. However, it often happens that students use the programs at the same time and may still have the browser open. And with that, four gigabytes of RAM and a dual-core processor quickly reach their limits. Eight gigabytes of RAM and four cores are therefore welcome.

A high-performance dedicated graphics card, on the other hand, is not required in the laptop for students. The graphics units from AMD and Intel integrated in processors are sufficient. The rule of thumb here is that the integrated graphics cards of the current AMD processors are slightly more powerful than those from Intel. Otherwise the following applies to students: the easier it is, the better. In addition, the display shouldn’t be too small and should have as sharp a resolution as the budget allows – the same goes for the front webcam, of course. A large battery is no more harmful to students than reasonable speakers.

Better Windows than Chrome OS

When it comes to the operating system, buyers should opt for Windows 10. Sure, with Chrome OS, MacOS and Linux there are more than enough veritable alternatives. And yes, thanks to the low price, Chromebooks are theoretically a great alternative to Windows laptops. But the operating system from Microsoft is the most widely used and if you want to avoid sources of error, you turn to Windows.

And yes, you want to use Windows even if the online lessons take place mainly via browser applications and can therefore be accessed across operating systems. Because if a Windows program is absolutely necessary for one or the other task, the child shouldn’t bother with alternative programs, but follow the lessons.

Note: The article was first published in May 2021.

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